Creativity Tools

It’s always nice to have extra time to explore new technology that can be integrated with learning.  There are so many tools available that I found it difficult deciding which ones to examine further.  Some of the new resources I played with this week included PosterMyWall, Do Ink, and Tellagami.  I found a lot of other tools like Glogster, Prezi, Tiki-Toki, and Pixton that I’d like to investigate more another time, when I’m ready to pay more fees. Many offered a trial period, but I didn’t want to feel restricted with time because I found  immediate uses with the other resources.  Therefore, I chose to research those first.

PosterMyWall offered many, positive features.  I liked PosterMyWall because it’s completely free to teachers, the content students view is filtered, all projects are kept private, and there are no ads.  Even with the great qualities, I didn’t think my students would benefit more from using it than Google Slides.  Also, I felt like the templates for posters would limit creativity for students.

Tellagami is a free app used to create animated, short messages or stories.  It allows you to choose characters and their mood, the setting, and you can either add text or voice recordings for dialogue.  When you finish the video there are multiple ways to share the video.  I liked Tellagami and don’t have a lot of negative comments, but I didn’t think it would offer as many benefits as Do Ink.  

The Green Screen with Do Ink says when you use this app, “you can tell a story, explain an idea, and express yourself in truly creative and unique ways.”  Although this app costs $2.99, I found the price to be minimal when considering the affordances.  The app is so easy to use that I’ll be introducing it to my second graders very soon.  The app has many positive attributes.  You can move, trim, scale, and crop images.  The video can be trimmed directly from the timeline, and there’s a unique tool that can be used to adjust the color quality of the video.  Do Ink also allows the use of multiple images and video to create a movie that can be shared in many ways to showcase the learning of your students.

I plan to use this app during our study of weather.  The readiness standard says students can measure, record, and graph weather information, including temperature, wind conditions, precipitation, and cloud coverage, in order to identify patterns in the data. Working collaboratively, and after groups collect their weather data, they will become meteorologists reporting on a weather event of their choice.  Using the guiding question, “How do meteorologists collect information about temperature, wind conditions, precipitation, and cloud coverage to identify weather patterns?” students will have to investigate the job of a meteorologist, explore the different tools they use to gather data used to predict weather, and apply their knowledge of different weather scenarios to create a script for producing their movie that answers the guiding question.  Some added movie props can be replicas of homemade weather instruments that they create.  Also, students can incorporate their created weather graphs and map images to improve the final product.  In the end, students will have access to multiple videos showing different weather events to unveil their learning.  This type of learning is authentic, engaging and relevant. Students complete multiple tasks, sharing visible connections to the real world, while integrating technology in their learning.       

I can see another use of this tool when we investigate famous Americans and their contributions.  After students research the different characters, they’ll apply their new knowledge of those Americans when scripting dialogue for the movie.  

Also, we might use this tool when we learn about the importance of Thanksgiving.  Students could imagine they’re a Pilgrim and share their experiences in the New World or they could pretend to be an Indian and discuss their feelings at the First Thanksgiving.  When combining the two points of view in one movie would make the new learning more evident.  

When we have an author study students could become a character of their favorite story to retell the story, using scenes that replicate the setting.  Then we’d compare the creations to compare the plots and settings of that author (our learning standard).

The possibilities are endless with this app.  I forsee a lot of growth when integrating Do Ink with student learning.   

It’s extremely important to stay informed of creative tools that can be implemented with learning. These tools offer students a way to creatively express new learning in a novel way.  The tools also offer student engagement while learning.  Students look forward to investigating new ways to apply new knowledge when integrating these tools correctly.  Creative tools are different from drill and practice and instructional games because students are just recalling basic information when using them, the final product is always different, and it most definitely requires a different level of thinking when using them.